Frank Hecker

eMusic per-track pricing for the US, UK, and Europe

2 minute read

This is a followup to my previous post on eMusic’s new prices. In this post I provide the equivalent per-track prices for all products offered in the US, the UK, and the rest of Europe. Although I didn’t note it in the original post, I obtained the underlying plan prices for the US from the description of eMusic’s plans linked to from section 6.1 of the eMusic.com Subscription Agreement; poppi and xtrev provided the corresponding prices for eMusic UK and eMusic Europe from the equivalent list for those services. Those lists are the closest things eMusic has to an official published price list; it apparently includes only plans offered to new subscribers, and does not include any special discounts that might be offered to existing subscribers.

In the following table I list the pre-track prices for the UK and the rest of Europe both inclusive and exclusive of VAT; I included the pre-tax figures to give an “apples to apples” comparison to the US prices. The exchange rates are the same as in the previous post: 1.9053 dollars per pound, and 1.2841 dollars per euro (average interbank rates for August 10, 2006).

Plan

Tracks

US

UK

Europe

UK (excluding VAT)

Europe (excluding VAT)

Basic monthly

40

$0.25

£0.22 ($0.43)

€0.32 ($0.42)

£0.19 ($0.36)

€0.28 ($0.36)

Plus monthly

65

$0.23

£0.18 ($0.35)

€0.26 ($0.34)

£0.16 ($0.30)

€0.22 ($0.29)

Premium monthly

90

$0.22

£0.17 ($0.32)

€0.23 ($0.30)

£0.14 ($0.27)

€0.20 ($0.25)

Basic annual

480

$0.25

£0.22 ($0.43)

€0.32 ($0.42)

£0.19 ($0.36)

€0.28 ($0.36)

Plus annual

780

$0.23

£0.18 ($0.35)

€0.26 ($0.34)

£0.16 ($0.30)

€0.22 ($0.29)

Premium annual

1,080

$0.22

£0.17 ($0.32)

€0.23 ($0.30)

£0.14 ($0.27)

€0.20 ($0.25)

Basic 2-year

960

$0.19

£0.17 ($0.32)

€0.24 ($0.31)

£0.14 ($0.27)

€0.21 ($0.27)

Plus 2-year

1,560

$0.17

£0.14 ($0.26)

€0.20 ($0.25)

£0.12 ($0.22)

€0.17 ($0.21)

Premium 2-year

2,160

$0.17

£0.12 ($0.24)

€0.17 ($0.20

£0.11 ($0.20)

€0.15 ($0.19)

Booster Pack 10

10

$0.50

£0.50 ($0.95)

€0.70 ($0.90)

£0.42 ($0.81)

€0.60 ($0.76)

Booster Pack 25

25

$0.40

£0.36 ($0.69)

€0.52 ($0.67)

£0.31 ($0.58)

€0.44 ($0.57)

Booster Pack 50

50

$0.30

£0.28 ($0.53)

€0.40 ($0.51)

£0.24 ($0.45)

€0.34 ($0.44)

Some obvious conclusions from the above table:

Assuming that these prices are the official ones, and that the “20% off” annual subscription is not being offered to new subscribers, there’s no point in signing up for an annual plan; you get no discount off the monthly prices and have to pay up front.

If you like eMusic and think you’ll stay with it, but don’t do a lot of downloading, then consider going for the 2-year Basic plan; you get pricing comparable to the Premium monthly plan but don’t have to worry about finding 90 tracks per month that you might like. This might be especially worthwhile for US users if eMusic decides to increase the cost of the Basic monthly plan (as I’ve speculated they might); you can lock the current price in for two years.

Don’t ever get booster packs in any size less than 50 tracks, especially for the UK and Europe. Booster pack downloads don’t expire, so there’s no disadvantage to buying more than you need right now.